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ALEXANDER W. STEWART, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

Letters Patent No. 102,17 9, dated April 19, 1870.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making peut of the name.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that L'ALEXANADER W. STEWART, of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of. Massachusctts, .have invented Improvements in Folding Chairs; and Ido hereby declare that the following, taken in connection with the drawings which accompany and form part of this specification, is a descriptionv of my invention suiiicient to enable those skilled in the art to practice it.

My invention relates particularly to the construction of Afolding chairs of that class in which a folding back and -two pairs of crossingr and, folding legs are employed.

My improvement consists in combining `with two frames (formed bythe two pairs of crossing legs and their connecting-stretchers)a third or back-frame, lthe two posts of which are hinged at bot-tom to two lopposite legs, and are connected above to the other legs by a pin on each post entering a groove in the leg, or

vice versa, in such manner that the folding of the legframes folds the back-frame against them, so that the three members on each side ofthe chair are compactly closed together',

This chair is' designed principally for what is known as Aa camp-chair or stool, extensively used on steamboats and in parks'and similar public places, the scat and back being formed of flexible webbing, though my construction is also applicable tochairs having rigid folding seats.

The drawing represents the framework of a chair embodying my improvement, the addition ofthe webclosing ,together the same as in many other folding chairs.

Behind the pivots each leg c c' has pivoted or hinged to ita post or upright, f, (preferably hinged, as seen atg,) the two posts f being connected by a stretcher, h, and thus constituting a rigid frame. The frame inclines rearward from the legs, as seen at B, and l from the outer side of each post a pin, @projects this piu extending into a groove, k, in the inner face of the adjacent leg a or When the chair is open, the two pins are at 1the tops of their respective grooves, and. any tendency of the legs to spread further is arrested by the pins abutting at the tops of the grooves. y

When the legs are folded, the legs a a', in their inward movement, push in the posts f, which, turning on their hinges or pivots, foldA closely up against the legs b b', as seen at O, the vpins t' sliding freely in the grooves k.

This arrangement of parts forms an exceedingly compact chair'for packing, while the disposition of the back-fratrie for-an open chair is such as to render it very rigid and enduring, the hinging of the posts atthe bottom t'o the legs b b', and the connection of the legs 'a a' and posts f, near 'the tops of the legs a a', bracing the frame very strongly for supporting the back of the sitter.

It will be obvious that the pins may be on the legs andthe grooves in the posts, and that the pins and grooves may 'be otherwise, somewhat differently arranged, thongh the arrangement shown is a very effective one.

It will also be obvious that a rigid seat may rest upon thev stretcher h, and so as to drop behind the stretcher h when the chair is folded.

I claim a folding chair, having, in combination with the crossing pivoted legs, a back-frame, hinged to the legs c c', as seen at g, and connected to and operated bythe legs a a', by means of slots k and pins i, as shown and described.

ALEXR. W. STEWART.

Witnesses:

J. B. CROSBY, FRANCIS GoULD. 

